The Village That Slept
by Lynixful
Summary: Russia and fem!Lithuania get stranded in an abandoned village after their plane crashed in the Ural mountains. Rated M for future smut.
1. Chapter 1

The Village That Slept

Pairing: Russia x fem!Lithuania

Warnings: Language, smut in later chapters, etc.

Summary: Russia and fem!Lithuania get stranded in an abandoned village after their plane crashed in the Ural mountains.

This story was inspired by my favorite book which is out of print.

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Tori groaned and opened her eyes only to see a blanket of darkness surrounding her, not even an ounce of light. She rubbed her head, it hurt but the reason for it was a mystery to her. It seemed to be that she was in some sort of accident and hitting the ground impaired her memory slightly, whether or not it would be permanent was anyone's guess. The ground underneath her felt like soft grass with some rocks in it and it was a tad chilly outside.

Suddenly, she heard a groan coupled with a confused "Привет? Is anyone there?…" Tori recognized that voice and its thick Russian accent but she couldn't quite place who it was coming from. Then it came to her, the voice was Ivan's, her 'master'. She stood up shakily, the pitch black greatly inhibiting her motor skills, and slowly walked towards the origin of the voice.

Ivan held his leg, which had a descent-sized slash in it but he, like Tori, was unsure what it was from. He heard someone walking towards him and said to help them locate him "I'm right over here just follow the sound of my voice." When she reached him, she put her hands out in an attempt to feel him, he then grabbed the hand roughly, in the blindness of the dark, he did not know who it was.

Then she squeaked and said "I-It's me… Tori. P-Please l-let go of my arm sir."

He then released her hand. "Извините (Sorry), I didn't know it was you." Ivan murmured under his breath. Tori helped him to his feet with some difficulty because she still could see nothing, Ivan hissed in pain when he put pressure on his injured leg. "Do you know where we are? Or how we got here?" he asked.

"No sir, I'm afraid I have no idea." she answered then continued, "I think we might've been returning home or something? I-I think we should find somewhere to lay down for the night, then we can start looking tomorrow."

Russia thought it might be too risky to try and move while it was dark, they didn't know the terrain, for all they know, they could be on the edge of a cliff, one false move and they could slip off the edge and fall to their deaths. After pondering this for awhile, he ordered "We will spend the night right where we are, there is no point in trying to move when we're blind as bats."

She replied, out of fear of angering the taller man who was known for being unpredictable, "Okay."

They both laid back down on the ground. At first, Tori felt slightly uneasy and laid about a foot away from him, weary that Ivan might take advantage of the dark. Her thoughts were interrupted when Ivan came closer to where she was so that their bodies were touching and put his thick jacket over both of them to stay warm.

"This is for body heat." Ivan muttered. Tori mentally scoffed at the irony of it, since he was very cold himself. She made no move to stop him however, even when he put one of his legs in between hers and put his arm across her shoulders, she even rested her head on his chest and listened to the slow beating of his heart.

When Tori awoke the next morning, it was bright out and she groaned, noticing the pain in her head again. "Good, you're awake now. The sun rose about an hour ago so we should start looking for civilization да." Ivan said. She looked over at him and almost forgot the situation they were in then blushed when she realized he was fully awake for some time but let her continue to sleep on him.

Tori stood first then brushed off the dirt from her clothes. Then, she helped Ivan stand on his injured leg. They looked around and saw what looked like a small village out in the distance. Separating them from it was about 2 miles of open meadow, then they stated walking towards the village in the distance in hope that they could help them. They walked in silence towards it.

Tori, despite the fact that she wasn't nearly as strong as him, helped him walk. Though she was slightly uneasy about being in such close proximity to Ivan. He had a stoic face and rarely showed any emotion rather than that false, plastered smile that could make anyone tremble with fear.

"Are you okay? You've been staring at me for quite awhile." Ivan questioned. Her eyes widened slightly then she looked away and to the ground. Tori hadn't realized that she had been staring at him and she was slightly embarrassed at it.

"No sir, I'm sorry, p-please don't hurt me..." she said in hope that he wouldn't punish her because of the obvious lie. At home, Ivan would always punish her for small things like not having dinner done on time or forgetting to wash his sheets. Out here, she wasn't so sure to how he would behave now that they were put in a completely new environment.

However, Ivan gave her a whimsical smile and ruffled her hair. Apparently, he wasn't mad at all and was in a rather good mood. "I know you were, but it's okay Литва. I don't mind." he reassured her.

When they arrived at the small village they saw that it was very run down. The streets were overgrown with grass and weeds to the point where it was barely recognizable as a street where at one point people walked. "Let's search да. Maybe, just maybe, there's someone here." Ivan urged her. Tori was going to protest but then thought better of it.

As the walked through the overgrown street in silence it was apparent this village had been long abandoned. Bushes were growing in between the houses and even inside of them. Most of the doors on the small houses were either gone or rotten to the point where there were gaping holes in them. The houses had thatched roofs which were sagging. The village was not extraordinary by any standards. It was just that one overgrown street and two small lanes that cut across them. On top of a small hill was a church with its doors appearing firmly shut. Ivan shouted, "Привет? Is anyone here?!"

No reply came and Tori looked up at him and inferred, "Iv-… Sir, I think this village is deserted."


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Minor hints of abuse.

Thanks for all of the nice reviews~

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"A-Are we going to die here?" Tori asked Ivan. He paused for a long time before shaking his head slowly and determinedly knowing that this place would not be where they died, not if he had anything to say about it. "We have no food, no water, no shelter… We don't even have any sort of idea to where we are." she continued.

In a manner more suited to military operations Ivan responded "Нет, we will not die. First, we will find some water, we can last without food longer than we can last without water. Second, we will try to find something to eat, I think we both are famished at this point, or at least I am. Third, we look for some sort of shelter, we'll find the house here that's the least run down and stay in there until someone shows up ." Impressed by how composed he was, she nodded. "I thought I saw a river back there, the grass was greener and that usually indicates water so you stay here and I'll go check it out." he ordered.

"B-But can't I come with you, sir? S-so w-we don't get separated." Tori pleaded. She knew that he was the perfect person to be stranded with considering his knowledge and strength.

"Нет, you stay here and try to pick out a house for us to stay in." Ivan commanded. Tori knew that there was no point in trying to fight this one.

Before he left, she shouted to him "Um, stay safe... sir. W-With that injured leg of yours." His only reply was a little smile and a nod.

Ivan set off towards the greener path of grass with pain lingering in his leg. He was not panicking at all, he reasoned that as long as they could find water, food and shelter. The sound of water coursing through the twists and turns of the river filled Ivan's ear. When he reached the river, he looked down and he saw that it was about 7 meters wide and maybe a half meter deep. It looked quite beautiful, the water was crystal clear and he removed his signature long tan coat, boots, socks and he rolled up his pants to his knees. He dipped his feet in the water, the small fish that inhabited the stream scurried away and he found the water to be pleasantly cool. He cupped his hands and took a drink of the liquid then gave a pleased sigh. After a few more drinks, he wondered how he would bring it home, then he remembered the two mostly empty bottles that were in his coat pocket. He waded back to the bank of the creek and picked up his coat and took them out.

"This is a waste of perfectly good vodka," he scolded himself and he poured out the remainder of the fiery liquid into the grass. "but it's for her, so it's worth it." Ivan continued. He proceeded to place the now empty bottles under a waterfall which was much shorter than a meter in height. After both of them were full, he put their cap back on them. He put his coat, socks and boots on before setting off to the run-down village.

While he was obtaining water, Tori looked around at the houses that they had to choose from, all of them were simple and only had one room in them. She first looked for the ones that didn't have their roof caved in just yet, there were only three who's roofs were salvageable. Out of these three, only one had an actual door made of old, rotten wood. When she walked to this house and opened the door which had lost one of its hinges. When Tori peeked inside, all she could see was overgrown bushes, she thought out loud "I can find somewhere better… If I can't, I've stayed in worse places."

After the examination of all the houses, she found that they were no better than the one she originally chose. It was then when she noticed a house on top of a hill behind the church. It looked like it was only recently abandoned where the others appeared to not have been lived in for years. She followed the grassy pathway to the house and saw it, compared to the others, was in nice shape.

She opened the door, which wasn't rotten like the others, with a loud creak and she walked inside. To the left of the door was a counter that was probably used for cooking and such. In the far right corner, there was an old queen sized bed. It was covered in a thin layer of dust and it had, what appeared to be homemade quilts as a comforter. She thought that Ivan would definitely love this bed. It would be big enough for both of them if they squeezed in it, Tori wasn't sure if she was comfortable with the idea of being alone with Ivan in this bed, his very presence was unnerving. Then, she walked over to the table with two chairs, one of which looked more recently used than the other. It was then when she looked out the window and saw Ivan walking through the street with two vodka bottles completely filled, unaware of the fact that it was just water. She paled when she saw them, she knew perfectly well what happened when he got drunk. The scars on her back were more than evident of this. "Литва!" Ivan called out, "Where are you?"

She scrambled out the door and towards him. "I-I'm right here sir and I found this house for us." she answered while tucking her hair behind her ear. Ivan looked at the place and gave a small nod of approval. It seemed homely to him and he liked that. Even though the garden, or what seemed to be at one point a garden, was completely annexed by weeds.

Holding up the vodka bottles filled with water, Ivan stated "I brought some water from the stream in these, I couldn't find anything else to carry it with." Tori let a breath that she didn't know she was holding of relief that the liquid in question wasn't vodka, ergo he wouldn't become drunk and subsequently beat her. He saw her somewhat panicked look and put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her and said "Don't worry, this isn't vodka… Though I don't know why you are so scared." He tilted his head in slight confusion, not knowing exactly why she was so utterly terrified but she knew exactly why.

"That's not important, b-but I was just about to begin cleaning the house so…" she trailed off mid sentence and focused her attention to the ground.

"But first, you must have some water, you haven't drunken anything for over a day, so here." Ivan expressed with great concern for her in his voice as he handed her a bottle of vodka. She opened the bottle and greedily drank most of it in a few large gulps, not realizing how thirsty she was until now.

"If you don't mind sir, I would like to go clean now." she muttered. Ivan nodded then figured that if she wanted help, she would ask for it so he laid down on the grass and stared up at the clouds.

Meanwhile, Tori went back inside and began to clean. She had found an old broom in the corner and did her best to sweep the dust out of their small living quarters. The broom she had wasn't the best and it couldn't get some of the dirt and grime that was between the creaky floorboards, maybe if she had a rag and some soap it would work better but both were currently unavailable. She also knew that without soap, she could do little to clean the quilts on the bed so she dragged them outside and shook them to get some of the dust off, but the dust was getting to her and she begun coughing. Ivan looked back and saw her struggling a bit with the heavy blankets then stood and offered "Why don't you go take a little rest and I'll take care of these да."

A tiny, grateful smile crept onto her face as she and said "T-Thank you." Ivan took them from her the she went back inside. Tori dipped her hands into her pockets and found a package of crackers that she must have gotten from the plane. Her stomach began to growl, she realized she had not eaten anything in over a day, but she felt guilty about not sharing them with Ivan so she set them down on the now somewhat clean counter.

A creaking sound of the boards broke her train of thought and she jumped a bit. "I got them as clean as I can, they'll do for tonight…" he said nonchalantly then turned his attention to the crackers and questioned "Hey where did you get the crackers?"

"O-Oh ummm I found them in my coat." she answered, thinking that he would take most of them.

He grinned and patted her on the head then said with a lilting tone "Good, now we can make it until tomorrow. Then I'll go out and search for food tomorrow."

The sun was beginning to set and everything was starting to hold a slightly orange hue. Ivan took out half of the crackers and split them between the two of them equally, much to Tori's surprise.

Later that night, as they were both laying down on their new bed underneath the somewhat clean quilts, Ivan, like the night before, came closer to her and draped an arm across her and at this point, he was practically on top of her. She was clearly uneasy about this arrangement but chose not to protest and Ivan murmured "You're a very warm body Tori. I like it..." Tori could feel the Russian man breathing down her neck and she blushed a bit when he nuzzled against the back of her neck. Soon, both of them fell asleep with only the light of the moon shinning on them and only the sound of the wind.


	3. Chapter 3

The Village That Slept (Chapter 3)

Warnings: none for this chapter.

Sorry it took so long to update.

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When she awoke the next morning, Ivan was pulling on his long tan coat and was preparing to go out and amass them something more substantial to eat rather than simple crackers. They would hardly last one person a week, let alone two people, one of whom was tall and muscular requiring a lot of food. Ivan had found an old burlap sack which he was going to store items of which he found of use to them to survive temporarily.

Her eyes were only slightly opened due to the intense light of the morning sun shinning in through the window. "Sir?" Tori inquired groggily. She turned her body to face him, she was wrapped up comfortably in the warm quilts that still carried the heat from where Ivan slept all night.

"Hm? Oh, I'm glad you're awake. I'm going out now, maybe I can find some supplies from where our plane crashed. I'm not sure when I'll be back so in the meantime… well I guess you may do as you please да." Ivan said cheerfully. She nodded slowly with a pang of guilt that she got to stay here while Ivan would wander outside all day searching for food and supplies.

"Oh and one more thing," Ivan said as he took out a small Makarov that he had on him, she paled slightly because she never noticed it then he continued "if I shoot this twice in succession, then I found another village, if I shoot this three times then I'm injured and you should come out and help me." Ivan continued.

"B-But what if you shoot it only once?" she inquired, slightly nervous that he told her this. She always worried about everyone and he was no exception.

"In that case, assume I shot some poor wild animal for dinner." Ivan said with a slightly creepy smirk adorning his face.

He then turned his back to her and left the house, their house. When he was outside, Ivan squinted his eyes at the tallest mountain around, it wasn't that far away and if he climbed it, maybe, just maybe he would be able to see some sort of civilization, another town that was not abandoned like this one hopefully. Though the distance to the mountain wasn't very far, with its height and his leg which still ached, it would take most of, if not all day to climb it.

He set out on his journey to the mountain. As he walked on the same trail that led Tori and him to the village, he couldn't help but admire the scenery around him. There were only a few trees at this altitude but there were many small bushes which served as homes for many small creatures that Ivan saw running around. The little brown rabbits, he figured, would be good to hunt if things got desperate and their situation wasn't far from desperation.

After more than an hour of walking, he had to sit on a large rock and rest his leg. The mountain was still about 5 km away, not to mention the time it would take to climb up it. Though the climbing shouldn't be too much trouble, even though it was a long time ago he climbed a lot of trees as a kid and the only difference between the two being if he slipped and fell on this, he would be seriously injured, a concussion most likely. Nations couldn't die from something as simple as a fall but he would still have to be careful when climbing.

Ivan stopped and decided to make a trip to the stream to the river and fill up one of the empty vodka bottles with water. He would need it for later. When the sun was high in the sky, Ivan arrived at the base of the mountain. The rocks on it were relatively smooth and it seemed quite grassy with some wildflowers growing in the patches of grass. He thought this mountain could've been used for skiing in the winter that, or at least he hoped, would signify some sort of town nearby. He started the slow ascent up the mountain.

Back at the house, Tori was busy with some more cleaning. She had nothing else to do, there were no books, no radio, she didn't have any sewing supplies and no one else to talk to. To pass the time, she swept until the floor boards were as clean as can be. She walked down to the stream to get some water so that she could rinse everything off but then she looked over at the rundown village and thought that if she searched in there, maybe there would be something of use.

She began to walk down the dirt path towards the village. The sun was shinning brightly without a cloud in the sky and birds chirped in glee, perched on one of the few trees that grew at the altitude that they were at. Tori stopped when she reached the church, though she was atheist on paper, like all of the counties in the USSR, she herself was quite religious and managed to hide an old Bible written in her native tongue, it was one of the few that still existed. The rest had been burned by the government. The steps leading to the small chapel were made of stone and had weeds and grass growing in cracks. She first attempted to simply turn the knob, hoping that it would be enough, but as she figured it was firmly shut, to keep out both the religious and the atheists. She thought that maybe to get this to open, some force would be necessary and turned the knob at the same time she pushed the door open with the weight of her body. When the door finally gave way to her demand, she almost fell to the ground.

When she took a look inside, she saw rows on wooden chairs leading up to a wooden alter. Light shone in from cracks in the stained glass. There were little decorations, no paintings, just some stained glass which was broken and all she could discern from it was that it was definitely Orthodox and it hadn't people haven't been there in years. There were some vases on the alter with flowers that long ago rotted away leaving only shriveled stems. The way she looked at it, if there was no other firewood, they could always burn the chairs. Other than that, there were little items of practical use in the chapel. She envisioned the peasants who at one point lived in the town.

With that, she left the building and made her way down to the village. At first, she entered one of the houses that she did not inspect when they first arrived and she was looking for shelter. The first cottage that she went into had the least amount of plants growing in it. The walls were cracking and the door long gone, the only light entering was coming through the window, which was little more than a square hole and the thatched roof with many holes in it to the point at which it could hardly be considered a roof. For furniture, there was an old, simple table on which there was a clay vase otherwise, the house was barren. Maybe she could use it to put flowers in, she thought to herself. Also in the cottage, there was a small book in the corner, when she picked it up, it was a bible in Cyrillic, clearly old and well used over the years, she set this back down in the corner before turning her attentions to the fireplace. By the fireplace, she saw a descent sized pile of firewood, this would definitely be of much use to them so she brought it out but left the bible there, Ivan was firm in his atheist beliefs and she did not wish to offend him with it though she herself was Catholic and did her best to hold onto her religion despite everything. Other than these items, it seemed to be that the owners took everything they possibly could and left.

When she entered the second house, it's condition was not much better than the first. However, there were more items. Upon closer inspection, she found some pots, they would definitely be useful for cooking, she reasoned. By these there were a few bars of soap. In addition to this, on a bed in an alcove, there were some more blankets and by the bed, an axe that looked well used over the years and some pots and pans. They would come in much use for carrying water and cooking, she reasoned. Similar to the last house, this one appeared very dark and barren. Picking up the items she procured in the two houses she visited, she picked up the axe, the firewood and the blankets then made her way back up to their cottage. Tori set down the items down in the house with the exception of the blankets, which like the ones currently on their bed, would need to be washed. Before leaving the bungalow, she took out the package of crackers and took only two, if Ivan was unsuccessful then that would be their only source of food. She was not sure he found anything, she didn't hear a gunshot signaling that he shot something for them to eat and she wasn't about to take that risk. Then she went back to the village to grab the rest of the objects.

While walking through the single street, she looked in between one of the houses and saw an old doll almost completely consumed by the weeds. Filled with curiosity, she approached it carefully, as if it was going to jump out at her and picked it up. The doll was clearly handmade and well used through out the years, not to mention the time it must have spent buried in the bushes. She ran her finger over the doll's loose button that it had acting as an eye. After inspecting it, she set it down against the house and picked up the rest of the items, the pots, pans, soap and vase. When she got back to the house, she dragged all of the blankets, including the sheets, down to the river. It would probably take the better part of the day to get the blankets completely clean but she knew that Ivan would greatly appreciate it, even back at home, he was always grateful and would say thank you even if it was simply a mundane chore such as dusting or cooking. She liked when he did that, it made her feel important.

So she put the blankets in the river seeing some of the dirt fleeing from them and dissolving into the crystal clear water and run downstream. After letting the worst of the build-up pass, she grabbed the bar of soap she brought and began to scrub. She was used to doing laundry by hand, there was no washing machine in the house, once she asked Ivan about it, he mumbled something about not everyone being able to afford one and they shouldn't have one if everyone can't have one*. It didn't make much sense, at least to her but he was the head of the house and he had the final say in matters such as this.

Meanwhile, Ivan was making his way up the mountain side but it was not without difficulty, the steep slope of the mountain and the loose soil made it hard to bestride not to mention the lack of trees and other sturdy objects to hold onto. After only an hour of climbing, he stopped and sat down on a flat rock and rubbed his weakened leg then groaned. "Damn this leg…" Ivan said nonchalantly as if the half-healed gash and the pain that came with it was little more than a mild inconvenience. He then stood back and continued up the mountain. He hoped that he would see some sort of civilization, that the people in the deserted village just packed up and moved only a few kilometers away and that he would be able to spot them and they could tell them where they are and how could they get back to his house and continue life as if nothing had happened. It was this that kept him climbing despite the fact that he was sore and exhausted considering that he hadn't had anything to eat since last night and even then it was only a few crackers.

Looking at how far he still had to go, off in the distance he noticed that there was a hut on the side of the mountain, it was too small for people to live in and there were no other buildings around it so he found it an oddity. When he reached it, Ivan found that the shack did not have a lock on it allowing any passerby to open it. Why would anyone leave it unlocked he wondered silently as his eyes narrowed. With only a small push, the door gave way and divulged its treasures to Ivan.

Despite it's small size, the shack held many items, most of which were pragmatic and beneficial to Ivan's current situation. On the wall, there were shelves stocked with cans of provisions, even though there was dust on the shelves, the fact that they were canned meant that they would still be good to eat. In addition, there was a large, faded green backpack with many pockets in the corner that Ivan could to take in order to carry all the items so he tossed aside the old burlap sack that he was originally going to use. He picked it up and found it to be rather heavy and when he opened it, he found a small medical kit with bandages, dressing, rubbing alcohol and several other things with it. There was also a clear, plastic box which held some sewing needles and thread in several colors. Folded in the corner were some warmer articles of clothing and a small, messy stack of books next to them. He was perpetuated by what this shack was used for until he saw the skis propped up against the wall, this must've been used as a ski cabin that skiers could use for a few days if they got trapped in a blizzard. Behind the pair of skis, he found several knives in sheaths attached to the wall along with an old rifle with ammunition. If they were going to stay here for a while, then the rifle would be so much better than his pistol for hunting wild game. When he picked the rifle up, it was quite banged up and the leather sling was cracking from age but other than these, there was nothing wrong with it so Ivan slung it over his shoulder and placed the knives and ammunition in the backpack along with several cans of food, clothing, the medical and sewing kits. Since there was still some room in the backpack, he looked around some more. When searching, he came across some flint for starting fires, soap for washing themselves and their clothes and a working flashlight which would come in handy considering that it was already starting to get dark. Ivan looked at the mostly full bag then realized that he could fit one or two more items inside and there were some descent sized bottles of vodka sitting on a shelf. When he reached for them, he then looked at the books and stopped. He figured Tori would appreciate the books much more than the vodka, remembering her face when he came back from the stream with two bottles filled and he choose to take the books instead.

With all of this on him, he walked back outside, the temperature has dropped a little since he was last outside and it became apparent that the journey back home would take up the rest of the evening and most, if not all, of the night. The large and heavy backpack would slow him down greatly but he was very strong and could've easily handled it if it weren't for the fact that he was traveling downhill. In his mind though, carrying all that was worth it, even the items that could be considered unnecessary such as the books.

Back in the village, Tori, being the naturally anxious person she is, was starting to feel abashed that Ivan hadn't returned yet, or even fired his gun. While she washed the counterpanes, her mind began to jump to conclusions that could explain his long absence. What if he fell? What if he was attacked by a wild animal and couldn't reach his gun in time? She shook her head in hopes of erasing these thoughts and removed the last blanket from the water and laid it next to the others to dry in the remainder of the sunlight.

Since there was really nothing else for her to accomplish, she also laid down in the cool grass feeling the gentle breeze. She never had spare time like this back at Ivan's mansion, rather, she would be taking care of her younger sister's mistakes, cleaning, cooking, etc. Even though Tori loved her sisters dearly, they, especially Latvia, would often mess up, drop a plate, forget to clean a certain room, burn the dinner and she would always be there to fix it. Once Latvia questioned about this but Tori just held her close and reminded her that they were all she had and she loves them. So she would always sacrifice her free time for the betterment of others. But now that she was stranded in some remote village in god-knows-where with Ivan, she had all the time in the world to sit back and relax. There was no drama, no world meetings, no fighting with America and the most of Western Europe, just peace and a sense of serenity that she hadn't felt in a long time.

After about an hour of laying there, in the grass, she figured that the blankets and sheets would be dry enough to put back on the bed. She folded them up individually and brought them inside. The bed looked much more appealing with the freshly washed blankets adorning it. Tori looked over to the half-eaten package of crackers, she was famished and she had to stop herself from devouring it. However, her worry for the taller nation kept her stomach in twists and turns. It was sunset and he still hadn't returned and when she peered out the window, he still was nowhere to be seen. Eventually she gave up and removed her normal green jacket and let a few buttons loose on her white undershirt before climbing under the covers and drifting off, secretly praying for his return.

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*In reference to the kitchen debate between Khrushchev and good ol' Richard Nixon. Basically, the Americans built a house and claimed that almost all Americans could afford the items inside it and Khrushchev was saying how the Soviets focus on "things that matter" and he was talking about how not _everyone_ could afford them. This is just what I remember from World History last year so don't take this as absolute 100% fact.


	4. Chapter 4

The Village That Slept (Chapter 4)

Warnings: mentions of self-harm, language

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Early next morning, Ivan opened the door to their cottage and walked in as silently as he could. He set down everything he brought with him down on the counter, all in all, he carried home quite a bit. There were some basic medical supplies, a lot of canned food that would easily be enough to last them over a week if they used it carefully, soap, some flint to start fires, some knives, a flashlight, some extra ammunition, a few articles of clothing, a sewing kit which would come into great use if they should tear their clothes and three books he found, Ivan knew how much she liked to read and he did enjoy it himself ergo, he found it necessary to take them.

After this, looked over to the bed while Tori was deep asleep, her chest rising and falling slowly with a tiny smile gracing upon her lips. He was extremely worn out from walking almost nonstop all day, half of the time while carrying all the items he procured in the resting hut. Looking down at her resting form, he noticed that the sheets and blankets looked much cleaner as compared to yesterday, she must've washed them he figured. He used one hand to support himself against the wall as he removed his boots then setting them next to the bed and he shrugged off his long, tan coat hanging it up on the bedpost. As silently as he could, Ivan lifted up the covers and got in the bed alongside her. Since the bed was only about a full-size, he couldn't do this without coming into contact with her which was just fine with him because he laid facing her with his stomach and chest pressed up against her warm back. Ivan put one of his arms underneath his pillow and the other across her. His eyelids began to droop and he dozed off quickly from the exhaustion of fumbling around in the pitch black for most of the night with a heavy backpack filled with necessities. It wasn't long before he too was deep in sleep.

This caused Tori to wake up, her muscles tensed and it took her a few seconds to register what was going on and that it was Ivan's body that was against hers. She decided however, to not move but rather relax into his burly arms. When Tori realized that he must've walked most if not all of the night, she felt a combination of pity and guilt. Guilty that she stayed behind and spent her day washing sheets and exploring the deserted village. Pity that he had to travel all day just to support them. So, she reasoned, if he wants to cuddle up to her, he should be able to. She felt strangely safe in his arms like this, like she was being shielded from any danger by being held by him. Suddenly, he nuzzled his nose into her hair, smiling in his sleep.

Many nations would be surprised that he's the cuddly type of person, mostly due to his somewhat threatening, unsettling, and overall creepy aura he gave off. But all of that disappeared now that he was lost in sleep. His face looked stern but soft and in peace when he slept like he was preoccupied by a fascinating dream he was having. Consumed by curiosity, she reached her hand up and stroked his face with her thumb, feeling the sharp hairs that were on his chin against the pads of her fingers from not shaving for almost four days now. There was something strangely soothing about just simply stroking the stubble on his chin and feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Since she couldn't fall back asleep, she decided to just stay awake but still lay with him with her head rested on his chest, listening to the slow thud of his heartbeat.

For a little over two hours they stayed like this, with her laying beside him with his arms wrapped around her. Tori dozed off a couple of times but it was never for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Then she heard his stomach growling in hunger and said "If you wouldn't mind, could you go make us something to eat." after he shook her shoulder.

Surprised, she quickly propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him, his violet eyes now open. "I-I didn't know you were awake, o-of course sir." Tori stammered out. Then, she looked down and realized some more buttons of her shirt had popped open at some time in the night, exposing her bra and breasts which she quickly covered up. He chuckled light-heartily and innocently. She shivered when she stood up for it was rather cold in the morning, to solve the problem, she pulled on her normal green jacket.

"Извините…" Ivan stated. He felt the need to apologize despite the fact that he was not looking at her breasts but he was delighted by her flustered look. He did not get out of bed but choose to continue resting. His entire body felt sore, his muscles complained whenever he would move so he found it better to just stay stationary for the time being.

She rummaged through the canned foods he brought back with him. There were cans of tuna, peanut butter, fruit, vegetables, various meats, beans, more crackers, honey and canned milk. Not exactly the best breakfast foods if you asked her. Turning to face him she asked, "What would you like to eat, sir?" She toyed with her hands while awaiting an order from him, silently hoping that it wasn't complex due to the fact that she was also tired and she wasn't sure exactly how to make any complex dish with the supplies that were allotted to her at the moment.

"Hm, just spread some of that peanut butter on the crackers… don't stress yourself to make something." he replied light-heartily. She smiled on the inside. That was very simple and would allow her some time to wash the pots and pans she found so that their dinner could be much better.

"Right away sir." she said while taking opening the large jar of peanut butter then reaching for one of his knives and spreading it on the rest of the crackers that she found in her pocket a few days ago. She then placed them on a old but highly decorated dish she found with a small piece chipped off of it when she discovered the pans. In less than two minutes, she handed him plate and he sat up and put it on his lap.

"Срасибо, and for now on call me Ivan." he looked up at her and said. She appeared to be slightly uncomfortable with the idea of addressing him by his first name. Calling another nation by their first name implied that they were close friends, lovers, equals (or lower in status in her case). To her, Ivan was the boss of all of them. His word was law and they were all underlings. She was not his equal, his friend, his lover. Despite his promise that he made to her when they were kids and he was living under the yoke of Tartar, they never became friends. He eventually grew from the little city-state of Muscovy and became a large and powerful empire, taking her land by force.

She then realized that she was stalling in replying to his request and quickly stammered out, "D-Doesn't that seem a-a tad… i-informal?"

"Нет, we are not back home. For now, please don't think of me as Russia, your boss… or captor." he said with strong confidence in his words with the last part mumbled out, then he continued with a smile, "I would like for you to think of me as Ivan, your comrade or друг (friend)."

"Друг?…" she repeated. To her, it was a preposterous notion that she and Ivan could be friends. Again, she believed that any hope of a friendship was dashed the moment he ripped her from Poland but apparently, he did not feel the same. "I-I guess we can be friends." she assured him with doubt swimming in her tone.

He smiled brightly then gave her a bear hug, encircling her completely in his strong arms, she felt like she was going to be crushed in his hold but then he sensed her uneasiness and let go of her. She inhaled deeply, regaining the air she lost in his bone crushing hug.

"I think I'm going to go take a bath in the stream, I haven't had one in a few days now да." Ivan said but to no one in particular. He took one of the bars of soap they had then walked past her to go to the creek. She wasn't going to say that he smelled bad exactly, but she was glad that he was taking a bath. After Ivan was done, she would probably bathe as well and get the smell of sweat and old blankets off of her.

It was a rather warm day so before leaving, Ivan felt no need to put on his tan coat before heading down to the small creek. When he arrived, he looked back up at their house, which was far out of view, not more than a kilometer but far enough that she would not see him undressed. He really did not like it for others to see him without clothes because, he was very self-conscious about his scars that littered his chest, arms, neck and legs, only a few of which were self-inflicted. Some of them weren't too bad but Ivan hated the look of pity that he usually received when another gazed upon them.

He first unwound his precious cream-colored scarf, setting it down on a rock, then he stripped himself of his patterned sweater and black undershirt. Sitting down on the rock, he took off his tall boots and socks. His olive green pants and red underwear were the last things to go. Now fully nude, he dipped his foot into the cool water, immediately sending a shiver through his body but then got in completely. The water only came up to his knees and he splashed water on his face and chest, waking him up completely.

He then proceeded to wash himself completely, getting rid of the buildup of dirt and sweat on his skin from the past few days. It quickly became apparent just how dirty he was from the past few days. He felt much better after letting the cool water run down his body, carrying all of his worries with it.

"Shit…" Ivan mumbled to himself when he realized that he had no towel, nothing to dry himself with so after he was done, he just laid out on the smooth rock and allowed the sun to dry him off. The rays felt nice against his pale skin, it warmed his skin up wherever it touched. Ivan shut his eyes from the sun, there were no clouds in the sky to cover it. The sky was a pale, baby blue with no clouds staining it. After he was most of the way dry, he dressed in the same clothes that he was in for the past few days thinking about how he should ask Tori to wash them.

When he arrived back at the house, she was preparing some sort of soup for dinner. It smelled rather delicious to him, especially after eating very little over the past few days. "It looks good, Tori." he commented light-heartily.

She jumped a little bit, "Oh Ivan, I didn't hear you come in… thank you though?" she responded with a sense of unsureness lingering in her tone. Ivan however made a beeline towards the bed and laid back down. He seemed rather uninterested in making any actual conversation and Tori was just fine with this.

"By the way, tomorrow could you wash my clothes? They're getting rather dirty." he asked of her. He did not demand it, but rather asked in a way in which she could deny him, say no.

But being the kind person she was, she nodded and answered "Of course I will." Despite his undemanding tone, Tori still felt obliged to comply. He smiled gratefully in response. She did not think it was that big of deal considering that she always did this for him back at home.

Home… that word was becoming more blurry as the days past. Home is where one feels safe and happy. Before the crash, Tori thought that Lithuania was home, after all, she was the country's personification. However, after crashing, she was beginning to think that right here, in their cabin located in an unknown place was home. She felt completely safe and happy here, Ivan appeared to be relaxed and content ergo since he's happy (and not hurting her) she's happy. Ivan was also feeling the same way. Here in this cabin, he did not have to worry about the pressures of being a nation. He just had to procure food and firewood a to make sure she was safe and happy. It was as if the weight of being a nation was simply taken from him for the time being.

Later, when the soup was ready, Tori tapped on Ivan's shoulder. He was laying awake in bed completely silent, just simply staring at the ceiling of their shack. It has some holes in it and Ivan planned to fix them sometime. "Dinner's ready." she informed him. With this information, Ivan got up with a groan.

At first, when pouring soup for them, Tori intentionally gave Ivan much more than her before Ivan stopped her telling her "Нет, we get the same since we are equals." It seemed to Tori that Ivan embraced the same idea that he had been pushing on others for several decades now. Dinner was quiet, neither nations felt the need to interrupt the peaceful silence. They just quietly ate their share of it. Considering the available ingredients, Tori made the soup taste well. Ivan occasionally flickered his eyes up to gaze at Tori but would always stop right before she could catch him.

After dinner Ivan said to her much in the same tone that a boss would compliment one of his employees "Спасибо Tori, you cook very well…" She looked away slightly, still unused to being complimented by him.

The night ended rather uneventfully. Tori read one of the books Ivan found for a while, meanwhile Ivan sat outside and looked out at the setting sun. It fascinated him deeply in a way in which he himself would never understand. Tomorrow, he thought, he would worry about fixing the roof up. So that if it would rain, he could keep Tori and himself dry.

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I'm so sorry it took so long to update. I'm horrible at updating things.


	5. Chapter 5

The Village That Slept (Chapter 5)

Warnings: kissing, language, mentions of sex.

I promise there will be smut in the next chapter.

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The next day, Tori awoke earlier than Ivan. They were in their usual position, Tori curled up and facing away from Ivan towards the window, while Ivan held her closely, his arm wrapped across her torso and holding her slender hand for warmth. The sun shone intensely in through the open window; the sky was cloudless on that day, nothing to stop the sun from getting to every crack and crevasse. Usually it was rather dark inside there.

Ivan, who was still asleep, suddenly squeezed her hand and mumbled something in his sleep. This was not uncommon for him to do and Tori really liked knowing a bit about what he was dreaming. However, she could not make out anything he was saying this time. Tori slowly wriggled her way out of his grasp to make breakfast and was immediately reminded of the cold temperature that she ignored during the night. When she stood up and stretched, Tori remembered that Ivan brought extra clothes from his trip to the ski hut. When she looked through them, she found a pair of dark pants which looked quite warm. They would do a much better job at shielding her legs from the cool air outside than the pencil skirt she currently wore. She first looked over to Ivan and she saw that he looked the same, his eyes appeared to be firmly shut. She took off the skirt and folded it neatly. Then she stepped into the pants which were clearly a man's pants by the way they fitted her, they were marginally too big for her but since they were warm and she didn't have anything else, she would make do with them.

It was then when Ivan decided to open his eyes. At first Tori took no note of his state as she began on making their breakfast. They would be having some canned fruit and canned milk. "Let me know when it's done да." came a groggy voice, thick with accent.

Turning back to face him, she replied "It should be done in a minute or two… Ivan." He seemed to be a little bit delighted when she referred to him by his first name. On legs that appeared to have lead weights strapped to them, he stood up and stretched out his long arms. Meanwhile, she split the contents of the can of fruit cocktail in half but subconsciously gave him a few more pieces than her and poured the milk in the vodka bottles that they were using in place of actual glasses to use. "I-It's ready now." she informed him with a gentle tone.

He nodded silently then went to go sit down next to her and took the bottle filled with milk in his hand "Cheers." he stated as he took a large swig from the bottle and began to eat his breakfast in silence. During the course of breakfast, Tori routinely looked up from her plate right at him. Ivan on the other hand, was slowly eating his meal and seemed to have a strange focus on it.

After breakfast, he stood up and announced "I will be searching for things to fix the roof with today ." He knew the task would be mildly difficult considering that the current roof was thatched and he wanted to replace it with something more substantial, so he asked her "Would you like to come help me?"

She picked her head up from her plate, at first a little taken back that he wants her assistance. After pondering the request for a few seconds, she answered "S-Sure."

Ivan thought for a bit what materials exactly they would need. They would definitely need some wood, the other day Ivan had spotted what looked like a couple Siberian Cypress trees which would work well as material. Finding nails and a hammer on the other hand would be the harder part. Perhaps in the village they could find some. "I will go and cut down the trees, you will go and find me some nails and possible a hammer if you could." he said to her in the same collected manner that he had used when they first arrived and needed a shelter. She nodded then took her leave down to the village.

Ivan on the other hand picked up the axe that Tori found earlier. Then he set off on a path behind the house where there was some trees that would do just nicely for a roof. He first approached one of the larger trees in the area knowing it alone would be enough for the roof. He began to take large, powerful swings at the base of it making little progress each time. Despite the thickness of the tree, Ivan knew with his strength, he could take it down.

While Ivan worked on the tree, Tori was down in the village searching for nails to use. In all of the houses she searched, there were no nails but she did manage to find an old hammer with the side attached to the wooden handle rusty and the handle itself clearly very old and well used. With this hammer, she figured, she could maybe take some nails from an old piece of furniture that was not good for anything else. Besides, it's not like the former inhabitants of the town were coming back.

In the house with the semi-rotted away roof and completely infested with bushes, she managed to see a table with two of its legs broken off and to the side of it. She reasoned it would be best to work in sunlight so she dragged it outside to work on catalyze it into its smaller parts. The nails themselves were rather stubborn in coming out of the table. It required more muscle on her part than she thought. She was trying to be careful in taking them out however, not wanting to damage them for further use.

For her, it took a solid 30 minutes to remove all the nails but for Ivan, it took 30 minutes just to get the tree to fall to the ground. The harder task ahead of him was cutting the tree into pieces they could use. Any extra pieces would be dried and be used as firewood, they could never have too much of that.

Tori went around to the other houses, and took apart any tables or furniture for their slightly rusty nails. After two hours, she had collected quite a few nails even though she knew it would not be enough to fully repair the roof. Just when she was putting them into the pocket of her olive green jacket she heard a noise. It sounded like a chicken's cluck but she was not sure. At first she looked around, trying to locate the origin of the sound. Then after a minute, she shook it off as a mere trick of the ears. When walking back to the house, there was the same noise again.

Overcome with curiosity and a need of knowing where that noise came from, she walked towards where she thought she heard it. The clucking noise appeared to be coming from the same area between two houses that she had found the old rag doll days earlier. There in the twisted, tangled bush she saw a rooster caught in the thorns and a hen who was right beside its companion. Kneeling down, Tori shushed the two chickens who where making a ruckus about the stranger. Only after they quieted down did she carefully begin to pull the thorny vines away from the bird freeing him at the cost of getting pricked by the vines several times.

With her hands now dirty and with superficial puncture marks, she picked up both the rooster and the hen. She was surprised to find out that neither of them resisted her and in fact went rather limp in her hold, signaling to her that they have been around humans before. The two chickens settled down but the male appeared to be hurt. She knew she had to take care of the poor cock later. His wing appeared to be badly damaged and it was missing some feathers. When she arrived at their hut, she was unsure where to put them so she just let them run into the home. The two chickens clucked loudly and ran around the room in circles before settling down in the corner far from the kitchen area.

While she dealt with the chickens, Ivan continued to hack away at the tree. Currently, he was cutting the tree into smaller pieces and taking off the branches so that they could be used for firewood considering that they were too small to be used for the roofing. It was exhausting work, even for a man who had his stamina. Somewhere along the line, he took off his heavier tan cost which left his chest covered only by a brown sleeveless shirt considering he gave Tori his sweater. From the corner of his eye, Ivan saw Tori approaching him with a vodka bottle filled with water. She figured he'd have to be thirsty at this point. He set down the axe and sat on the tree stump "Спасибо." he said in a flat but thankful voice as he took the water.

"While searching, I-I found two chickens." she informed him hoping that he wouldn't want to kill them right away because of the eggs the hen could produce. Those eggs would be able to feed them for much longer than the rations Ivan got; though the rations were by no means small.

"Ah that's great, now we can have some fresh eggs." he said in reply. Half of the tree was already neatly chopped up into small, cylindrical sections so he felt that he earned the right to take a break inside for a little while. She just followed him back inside having nothing to do while outside.

When Ivan first saw the hen and the cock he smiled. They were both cuddled up next to the fire and he found it rather endearing. The rooster looked to be hurt by something but Ivan didn't know what. "How cute they are." he simply stated not to her particularly but just as a general statement, then he knelt down and went on with a hint of sadness lingering in his tone "It's nice that we found two of them, I would feel very bad if they didn't have anyone for all this time."

Tori nodded at both of these statements. It was rather cute to see them all snuggled up against the fire and they would've been extremely lonely if they didn't have each other. Ivan adorned a little smile that seemed vaguely sad on his face as he reached out to pet then. The silence was broken when the hen pecked at his hand to stop him from touching them.

"Проклятие!" he exclaimed as he pulled his hand back. The hen was acting rather protective of the rooster. Ivan stood back on his feet. "You know we're a lot like them… We're both lost and confused in a land in which we are not familiar with but at least we have each other." he ranted slightly.

"I-I guess we are aren't we… But it could be worse, at least we're not alone. I don't think I could bear to be alone for this long. I've always had someone who loves me, my sisters, Felija… " she trailed off unsure of how to continue that particular sentence without bringing up the times she spent in the rye fields with her best friend and former lover who she was now separated from

Regardless, Ivan looked over to her. He normally would punish her for mention of the Pole knowing of their previous relationship but now that they were alone he appeared to be slightly sad and hurt. "N-No, please don't get me wrong I enjoy the time I've spent with you… Ivan." she said in a comforting manner, his name rolling off her tongue a little easier.

The look he held before was lifted slightly and he walked over to the kitchen counter and leaned on it, turning his head to the side to watch the sun going down. "I also enjoy your company. When you were with Poland, it must've been a nice feeling, to be loved." he said with the last part quieter and he continued in an even more hushed and awkward voice "Everyone deserves to be loved."

"Ivan?" she questioned not understanding what he meant exactly. She tucked a section of her hair behind her ear.

Ivan didn't look at her but rather continued to stare outside "You should probably start on dinner." he suggested, changing the subject abruptly yet smoothly. It was then she realized how late it was and that it wouldn't be anything fancy tonight, just a simple dinner.

Tori grabbed a can of what she was relatively certain was either tuna or turkey then realizing she had nothing to open it with. "May I see your knife Ivan?" she asked him pointing to the knife he had tucked into his belt loop. Considering they wouldn't get to the meat without some sort of impromptu can opener.

He unsheathed the knife then set it down on the counter besides her. It didn't take long at all for her to slice open the can and empty it's contents out onto two plates for them. Dinner that night wasn't particularly decadent but it would have to do. Ivan didn't complain about it so that's all that mattered to her. Despite the fact that she knew Ivan didn't require her to try her absolute hardest there was just something in her that made her want to continue it.

They didn't forget about the chickens however and tossed them a little grain they found in the same shed Ivan got his axe from.

As the sun set, Ivan stripped down to his carnation pink scarf, pants and brown sleeveless shirt. There was no sense in sleeping in his heavy coat when the blankets would be more than enough to keep him sheltered from the chilly night air. Tori on the other hand opted to not wear pants but only her white button down shirt that was big enough to cover a little past down her hips. Ivan pealed the quilts back and got into bed first with Tori following soon afterwards. She laid on her back and her head rested sideways on the pillow in such a way that her face was facing Ivan. As always, Ivan had his arm draped across her stomach.

The sky on that particular night was clear and the stars were visible and their soft light penetrated the cottage. Neither nation was asleep just quite yet. Ivan broke the silence when he stated "I'm glad we're like the chickens and not alone. I can't think of anything worse than being trapped here by myself."

She found it a rather odd thing to state even if it was completely true, nothing was worse than the feeling of being alone. However, loneliness was a feeling Ivan knew all too well, even in his house he still felt the sting of being alone. None of his housemates particularly wanted to be in his "workers paradise" and it was evident. Tori also felt the exact same way. She wasn't very close with her "sisters" nor Ivan's siblings. Felija lived in her house back in Poland, separate from her. "W-We have each other…" she commented wanting to contribute to their previously one-sided conversation.

In the next few moments, she pressed the palm of her hand to his in a tender manner. Tori looked into her eyes and she wasn't sure what enticed her to take the next action, but she slowly leaned in and kissed him on the lips without a second thought. Ivan's initial reaction was shock but after a few seconds he welcomed the feeling of her lips against his own and began to slowly kiss back. She moved her hand from his palm to his cheek feeling the rough little stubble. With one of his arms already around her waist he pulled her closer to him. The kiss was broken and a little squeak escaped her lips but they weren't separated for long because Ivan closed the gap in between their lips once more with a little more pressure to this kiss. After a few moments of this kiss, Tori arched her back so that her chest, covered by her white button down, was pressed into his and she felt the strange urge to open her mouth doing so. In response to this, Ivan allowed his tongue to venture its was out of his mouth to lick her lips. Tori's tongue met Ivan's then with the tip of her muscle rubbing against the section of his tongue that had already made its way into her hot mouth.

Good things end too soon and they both needed to pull away for breath. She brought her hand up to her lips and touched them not believing that she had really just kissed Ivan, her boss, her master, her captor. The prudent part of her mind however, shut off the moment she kissed him again with her mouth already open for him to explore her mouth with his tongue. She sucked on the intruding fleshy muscle in her mouth causing Ivan's shoulders to tense a little as he let out a noise of pleasure.

It was then when his hand began to creep up her shirt and he slowly traced the outline of her bra that enclosed her breasts. "Stop!" she exclaimed, rational returning to her mind the moment those hands of his touched her breasts. Ivan quickly pulled his mouth off of hers and removed his hand from her shirt.

She panted a bit before going on "I-We shouldn't have done this. I-I'm sorry, I don't want to go any farther just yet." She tensed up in anticipation of some sort of negative reparation or punishment. If there was one thing she had learned, Ivan did not like to be told no when he wanted something, in this case, her.

Out of nervousness, a bead of sweat fell fell down her face at Ivan's silence for a few moments. His face was rather unreadable, there was a little shock, but some confusion and another odd emotion that she couldn't pinpoint. "I'm glad you told me now. Tori, I love you and I wouldn't want to force you into anything that you don't want to do." he simply said with a tiny smile on his face. His confession was in a very matter of fact manner, as if it had always been that way.

She was shocked by this response from him but nevertheless, she hugged him and whispered "Thank you, Ivan." He kissed her forehead before laying down again on the bed and he fell asleep quickly while she stayed up. His words ran through her head and she knew that being stranded here completely changed the rules of the game.

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Happy Valentines Day! I hope you guys liked this chapter. Sorry it's late and a bit long -. I promise I will include smut in the next chapter okay?


	6. Chapter 6

The Village That Slept (Chapter 6)

Warnings: smut (finally), hetero sex scene, language, etc.

Thank you for all the nice reviews.

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A couple of days passed from that night and things were relatively normal. Ivan had fixed the roof so that when it rained, there were no leaks, Tori had continued with her household chores as usual doing all the cleaning and cooking. The chickens they found gave them a few eggs each week which both nations were more than glad for.

After that kiss, the atmosphere wasn't really awkward to either of them, it seemed quite natural. Each night, they would kiss each other goodnight. Every morning, they would greet each other with a kiss. They were simple kisses however, just a quick peck on the lips that gave a feeling of warmth and comfort. The kisses didn't feel forced nor were they overly dramatic or romantic, they were uncomplicated.

Since Ivan didn't really have anything better to use his time on, he took up whittling as a little hobby to pass the time. He seemed to be a natural at it and after the first day of him truly sitting down and focusing on it, he got to the point where he could carve a relatively good circle from a small piece of wood. After the second day, he carved bowls for them to use out of wood. After the fourth solid day of trying, he was able to carve small, simple animal figurines that were placed around their one-room home. Tori continued on with the cooking and cleaning though Ivan insisted on helping her with the cooking some days. It was a pleasant task for them both.

One day while cooking she was humming a little Lithuanian folk tune under her breath and Ivan stopped with the carving to pay attention to her. She took no note of him as she continued to dice the carrots. It was no more than a simple tune and she was doing it completely subconsciously, unaware until Ivan brought it up. "Tori? May I ask what you're humming."

She stopped what she was doing and looked back at the taller male. "Was I? I-I didn't notice I was." she said back to him.

"Да, you were, it was rather cute. It was like a little пташка. (bird)" he commented maladroitly, chuckling a bit at the end.

"O-Oh that? Well it was just a little tune that my people sang back…" she began. She wanted to say back home but she couldn't seem to get the words out. Home was where ones heart was, though she loved her homeland more than anything else this little run down cottage in the middle of the Ural mountains seemed to be more of a home than the land people called Lithuania was. Here she really didn't have to worry about world affairs or petty scrabbles. Even better was the fact that Ivan was calm, kind and surprisingly sweet when he wasn't under pressure from his boss. "It was a tune my people sang back in Lithuania." she finished.

Slowly and gradually, the sound of a plane came into earshot. At first Ivan was confused and went outside to check on what it was. It was a day with only little clouds in the sky and a small, dark object in the shape of a cross came into view in the sky. It was rather small, but like a parrot it made a huge amount of noise as it came closer to them, traveling parallel to the ground they were on at the moment.

"Look! It's a plane! We're getting rescued!" he exclaimed with glee and excitement, his voice not unlike that of a child who comes downstairs on Christmas morning to find a few presents crudely wrapped up by his or her parents underneath a well decorated tree.

Tori scrambled to get outside as well. Frantically, they both waved their arms in hope that the pilot would spot them from above. As the plane drew closer and closer they both smiled widely more than certain that the plane would land to save them. They could see the details on the underside of the plane. However, the plane kept flying by and didn't stop. The pilot didn't notice them for they weren't even a scintilla in his field of sight. The roar of the plane's engine faded off into the distance and the plane itself became a black cross shaped anomaly in the sky.

Ivan froze with his hands up in the air. Instead of finding a sense of grief, he found a sense of slight relief. Relief that he didn't have to go back to the hell hole he called a house. Though it was full of kith and kin, he always felt so alone in there.

Tori also felt the same way, here she didn't have to worry about getting beat or worse for something that wasn't her fault. Here, Ivan treated her with nothing but respect and kindness. She had a say in what went on here. There were no sleepless nights, just a sense of serenity. The same kind she felt so many years ago in the rye fields with Poland.

Ivan dropped his arms and admitted bluntly "I'm glad they didn't stop. I don't want things to go back like they were."

"Neither do I, Ivan, I like it here. I don't have to be afraid of you and walk on eggshells every time I'm around you." she told him. At home, admitting her fear of him would result in some sort of punishment.

Ivan still frowned at this, knowing that it was other's fear of him that kept him alone even in his big house. When they feared him, they wouldn't come to him and comfort him when he needed it the most. They wouldn't laugh and tell jokes with him at the end of a long day. Most of them refused to even come near Ivan unless it was ordered of absolutely necessary. This left Ivan isolated in his dark study with a bottle of vodka and time to think about all the horrible things he's done over the years. If he didn't pass out there then he would go and seek solace in one of his "friends" which never ended well.

The look of a confused puppy on his face made her heart sink a little. Like a small dog that knew exactly what he had done wrong but wanted nothing more than for its owner to forgive him. She faced him and hugged him knowing that it was what he needed most at that moment. Both nations held an odd sort of gratefulness for the fact that the plane passed them, leaving them here in their own little paradise. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a firm kiss. He immediately slid his eyes closed and began to kiss back, savoring the sweet taste of her lips. This particular kiss held a passion they hadn't felt since their first kiss. It took a long while for either nation to have the courage to break it.

"I like it here. I don't have to pretend to always be strong. I'm not ordered to hurt the woman I love most." he said with his violet orbs clear and sincere unlike how they were normally back at their old house, cold, distant and sad.

She closed the gap in between their lips again knowing what he spoke was the truth. Then she pulled away and whispered in his ear "Ivan, I'm ready."

Confused, he raised an eyebrow "Ready? What are you… oh." At first, he didn't understand what she meant by that. Then it hit him and he smiled as they both leaned in at the same time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her middle closer to him so that her chest was pressed up against his.

Slowly, she broke the kiss moving her lips from his mouth to his cheek. "S-Should we go inside?" she asked. Her heart was already beating rather fast in her chest out of anticipation of what was about to come. Ivan nodded and took her hand as they made their way inside together. She first laid down on her back on their small bed, she was even surprised at her own eagerness.

Both of them did really want this, it had been a long time since either of them had sex with someone else. In response, Ivan also got on the bed next to her rather than on top of her. He slowly leaned in one more and kissed her passionately, she entangled her fingers in his ashen blonde hair and kissed back; she was slowly running her tongue across his lips, asking for entrance. Gladly, he gave her permission and opened his mouth to her curious tongue and sucked on the invited muscle a bit. Ivan flipped them so that he was laying down underneath her but he propped himself up on his elbows so that Tori was on top, her bottom pressed against his crotch. Knowing she had to feel his early stage of arousal, he grinded his hips upwards, wanting some sort of friction. She could feel the bulge forming in his pants and she became rather flustered.

Leaning down, she went to unbutton his coat and various shirts he wore underneath. However, she left the scarf on for now, knowing that the Russian man felt completely exposed without it. Ivan aided her in the removal of these articles of clothing, feeling the cool zephyr from outside tickle his skin. She traced a line from his toned muscles of his chest to his softer middle. Well it wasn't exactly soft, she knew that he had strong core muscles shielded by some fat. The same went for his arms, though they just appeared to be thick, most of it was muscle that he acquired from years of hard, manual labor and fighting even though it didn't appear to be so.* His breath hitched at the wonderful feeling of her somewhat long nails tracing down his torso.

"Will you take off your shirt too? I want to see what you have hiding underneath." Ivan purred into her ear causing a shiver to be sent down her spine. She nodded in compliance as her hands began to work on unbuttoning her green jacket and hanging it on a bedpost. Then, she pushed him back down so she could finish removing her button-down shirt. His eyes ran across her newly exposed skin on her stomach and arms, however, her breasts were still shielded by her bra which was also soon removed exposing her lighter colored breasts.

Ivan reached his hand up and took a hold of one of them then squeezed on it gently, testing to see what her reaction would be. She squeaked at first when she felt his hand on her breast and finding the feeling to be a rather pleasant one, then she groaned wanting a little more. Sitting up and latching his lips onto her neck, he squeezed a little harder, drawing a quiet moan from Tori. Gently, he took one of her nipples and rolled it in between his fingers causing her to moan a little louder as her fingers combed through his hair. His hot breath tickled the skin of her chest as he lowered his head to lick on the nub that he was previously playing with. She shuddered, arching her back towards him with her cheeks becoming flustered and panties becoming wet. Her legs were shaking a bit from the pleasure that she was receiving and Ivan noticed this fact. After a while, he removed his mouth from her nipple and she quietly groaned from the loss.

Then, he went on to work on removing his olive green pants and red boxers, the last articles of clothing besides his scarf that he had on. Tori helped getting them unbuttoned and got off of him long enough for him to take them off and toss them to the side. By now, Ivan adorned a small blush on his face unused to having someone else see this much of his naked form; even when he would usually have sex, he liked it in the dark so whoever he was with couldn't see his ivory skin littered with old scars and wounds. However, Tori didn't seem to be even phased by his physical imperfections having many of her own. His scars on his wrist, neck and back weren't distracting from his soft, round and somewhat blushing face. She also removed the oversized pants that she had on, but she decided to leave her panties on at least for now.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" she said quietly, noticing the fact that Ivan seemed a little nervous and she traced a line down his torso.

He sat up and kissed her lightly and innocently on the lips with a little chuckle then replied, "Да, I want this just as much as you, моя дорогая." He was still a little nervous about this, hoping that neither of them would regret saying yes and ruin everything they had. There was also the nagging feeling that he wouldn't be good enough to please her, considering the fact that it had been a while since he had sex with anyone.

Hesitantly, she reached her hand down and gripped his half-hard length lightly drawing a surprised gasp from the man. Her hand was warm yet calloused from years of hard manual labor on both the farm and in the house. Biting down on his lower lip, he bucked into her hand. Feeling that his penis was almost fully hardened, she responded by stroking him slowly and softly a few times to tease him. It was then when she noted the fact that he still had his cream colored scarf on and she reached up to remove it. Immediately, he tensed up and a hand flew to keep the scarf on but then he looked up at her eyes and realized that she could be trusted to see what laid beneath his scarf so his hand went down.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." she reassured him with a smile and this was more than enough for him. The irony of the situation struck her hard. Back before they arrived in the mountains, it was him who was always in control and in a position to hurt her. Slowly, she unwound the scarf from his neck causing a shiver to go down his spine. When she first saw the old, faded scars criss-crossing his neck, her immediate reaction was shock. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth and her eyes widen as she gasped. Ivan looked away, feeling slightly ashamed of his scars.

Out of nowhere, she placed a light kiss to one of the scars to show him that his scars weren't horrible. He groaned a little, his neck was extremely sensitive and it felt wonderful to him. Seeing his body's response to a simple kiss, she slowly sucked on the side of his neck. Ivan closed his eyes and gripped onto the bed sheets, his breathing becoming short as her pumps became harder.

"Нет, I want this to last longer." he began to say as he pushed her mouth away from his neck and her hand away. Then, Ivan trailed his hand all the way up her inner thigh and whispered "I want to make you feel good now." In response, Tori was more than glad to take off her panties. Finally, they were both fully exposed to one another.

He flipped them over so that he was on top of her and he gently rubbed her thighs in order to coax her to spread her legs. Her heart beat fast as she spread them and Ivan traced her slit with an almost feathery touch. She shuddered and moaned in response to his somewhat timid touch. He found what he was looking for rather quickly, her clitoris and he ran his thumb against it. Finding a very positive response from the woman, he rubbed it slowly and gently at first, knowing it would hurt if he tried to do it harder to her.

Through the moans and muttering in Lithuanian, Ivan caught one thing, his name. "Ivan…" she whispered without intent. He loved hearing the sound of his name coming from her mouth.

He traced her wet, inner folds in order to find the opening of her vagina and once he found it, he gently pressed one finger inside slowly. This caused her to gasp at the cold digit inside of her. He stopped when half of his first finger was inside to make sure she was alright. "Does this feel good?" he began to whisper into her ear, "Do you want me to continue?" he finished an nipped at her ear. Unable to form words, she nodded quickly for him to continue. Listening to her, he slid that finger in as far as he could and he wriggled it around to find her one spot that would defiantly bring her pleasure.

Tori wrapped her arms around his neck when he found it. Ivan pushed another finger inside when he was certain of the location of her g-spot and he began to thrust those two fingers in and out of her. Those two fingers would be enough, he figured, they were thick enough but if he tried to add more, he wouldn't be able to go deep enough to please her. She moaned quietly but loud enough so that Ivan could hear those melodious sounds. She was already very wet from the foreplay, but she was also quite tight and he knew it would hurt her if he tried to go inside of her now. So he began to thrust them a little faster, a cry of pleasure coming from the Lithuanian. She could feel herself approaching an orgasm, just from his fingers alone when suddenly, he stopped. Instead, opting to curl them against her g-spot. Ivan also pressed his lips to her cheek "I know you're almost there, would you like me to use my mouth too?" he asked in a husky, lustful voice.

"Д-Да, please." she whispered in response, her heart beating a little faster as he kissed down to her belly button then looked up at her, loving the flustered look on her face. Placing his head between her thighs, he kissed her inner thigh, all while not removing his fingers from her vagina. Slowly, he licked from her inner thigh to her clitoris and took the bud into his mouth and rolled it around his tongue. It felt almost heavenly to her, she almost couldn't remember the last time someone did this to her. As he sucked, he also resumed thrusting his fingers to add to the pleasure she was already receiving. He slowly ran his somewhat rough tongue across the bead, then he ran his tongue down to where his fingers were and he removed them causing a strange feeling of emptiness in her. But it wasn't for long as he circled his tongue around her opening then sliding the smooth muscle easily inside of her. She entangled her fingers in his hair and moaned. Ivan started to hum, the soft vibrations feeling wonderful for her.

An orgasm was fast approaching and it was evident by her breathing, it was getting faster and faster and Ivan could sense it. He removed his tongue from inside of her and moved it back up to her neglected clitoris and began sucking on it and he took the same two fingers and sharply thrusted them inside her against her sweet spot. It was then when she cried out, not able to keep her climax down any longer and she moaned loudly, waves of pleasure coursing through her being. Her body seemed to give a little shake here and there, the grip on his hair became only tighter as she rode out the course of her orgasm. Ivan continued to suck lightly during it and less than a minute later, he removed both his tongue and fingers and wiped his mouth off.

She sat up and kissed him full on the lips, unphased by where his mouth had just been. He kissed back, figuring he did a descent job and groaned because he was still quite hard. Tori was able to feel the hardened flesh pressing against her stomach as they kissed and she immediately became nervous. He was rather well-endowed and she knew he could easily hurt her. Sensing her fear, he broke the kiss and said "I promise I'll go slow." Though he usually liked to go rough with his lovers and loved hearing their screams whether from pleasure or pain, Ivan wanted to be gentle with her.

She answered with a quick peck to the lips. Tori pushed him back on the bed and straddled her hips above him. First, she spat on her hands to use it as some sort of improvised lube and rubbed it all along his erection. He closed his eyes and groaned as she did this.

When she thought it would be sufficient, Tori positioned her opening above his erection and gripped it. Her wet lips parted as she slowly slid down, taking it inside of her, inch by inch. Tears sprang to her eyes; though she know they both tried hard to make sure it didn't hurt, she still felt some pain as she continued to lower her hips.

Ivan opened his eyes and saw her face in a little pain "Don't hurt yourself." he groaned out and took her hand. Tori nodded in response and squeezed his hand. When she couldn't take any more of his erection in, she remained still for a few, but very long moments to adjust, squirming a bit. "Take your time, моя дорогая. We're in no rush." Ivan said and he propped himself up on his free elbow as his erection throbbed inside of her.

After about a minute, Tori raised her hips slowly and carefully until only the tip still remained inside of her. Then, she lowered her hips quickly, so that once again his hard length filled her. It hurt a little less this time and was more uncomfortable than painful. Ivan let out a soft, almost inaudible moan filling her with pride that she can bring the man underneath her such pleasure.

She raised them once again and bucked them downwards, eventually locking them in a very slow and shallow, but satisfying pace of thrusting for both nations. They had no rush and this was a much welcomed distraction from what their situation was. When she was thrusting down, she hit her g-spot and let out a moan of her own. Positioning herself so that she would hit it, she began to move faster. The sounds of their moans and the sounds of the slapping of bare flesh against bare flesh filled the room.

The man underneath her groaned deeply out of appreciation for the added friction and faster pace. She moved her hands from holding his erection as she rode it, to placing them on his softish abdomen. The pain was almost completely gone by this point for her now that she had time to fully adjust. Then, Ivan began to gently thrust his hips upwards, in time with hers so that they met halfway with a loud slap.

Both of them were beginning to get closer and closer to climaxing but neither of them wanted this to end so soon. So Ivan gently held her hips in place in favor of sitting up and pulling her into a deep kiss. Tori closed her eyes and licked his lips, wanting entrance to his sweet mouth. He parted his lips for the curious tongue and she began to boldly explore his mouth. He closed his eyes shut as he sucked on her tongue. She let out a groan, both from pleasure and from the frustration of not being able to move her hips. Ivan released his hold on her hips as they broke the kiss.

Immediately, she began to and roughly and slowly thrust her hips downwards. For Ivan, the feeling of her warm, moist vagina surrounding his cock was heavenly. For Tori, his hard length was striking her sweet spot with almost every other thrust, sending a jolt of pleasure up her spine. The beginnings of an orgasm were building once more for both of them. The knot in Tori's stomach was tightening more quickly; she was very close to climax. With a loud moan and a rough squeeze to his shoulder, she finally reached an orgasm. Her face looked to be in pure bliss as her body gave a little shake here and a little shake there. Ivan looked up through half-lidded eyes to see her practically glowing with her orgasm. He himself moaned as she tightened up considerably around his cock. This threw him over the edge and he groaned as he came inside of her. Ivan closed his eyes and his breathing was uneven. After a few moments, she pulled herself off of his softening cock and laid down next to him.

Ivan wrapped his arm around her shoulders damp with sweat and kissed her forehead tenderly. She cuddled up close to him and pressed her lips to his cheek. Though her lower abdomen and hips were sore and the feeling of his semen run down her thighs was odd, she felt more satisfied and safe than she had in years of living back in his mansion. Ivan shared the same feeling of safety and contentment as his eyes slid closed and before dozing off, he whispered "Я тебя люблю."

* * *

*My headcanon is that Ivan looks like one of those legit body builders. Not of those dehydrated "bodybuilders" with finely defined and starving muscles stretched over skin. Rather, he would be one that has a lot of well fed muscles and some fat if that makes any sense seriously, look up a picture of an actual bodybuilder. Though, if you would put a shirt over him he would just look fat.

Моя дорогая = my dear

I'm sorry this took so long to do, I kept getting distracted with other things


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